WHEN MYSTICAL ALTARS REPLACE THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST (PART II)

“The Myth of Spiritual Altars and Supernatural Authorization: When Prayer Becomes Spiritual Electricity and Religious Imagination Becomes Theology”

By Akin Ojumu

In Part I of this commentary, we examined Joshua Selman’s extraordinary assertion that priesthood powers kingship and that the invisible crown supposedly resting upon a believer’s life derives its authority from activities performed upon an equally invisible altar.

We established from Scripture that believers are a royal priesthood through their union with Jesus Christ, the eternal High Priest and sovereign King. Their priestly identity is secured through Christ’s redemptive work and not manufactured through some religious performance. Their participation in His kingdom is a consequence of His saving grace, not the product of some supernatural power-generating system.

But Selman’s theological creativity does not end there.

Oh, no!

Having invented a spiritual arrangement in which priesthood supposedly powers kingship, he proceeds to introduce an even more elaborate piece of supernatural machinery.

According to the statement attributed to him:

“An altar is a spiritual system of authorisation. The strength of your prayer life, study of the Word, fear of the Lord, commitment to prioritising Jesus, and consecration are what power your altar.”

There you have it.

According to this theological arrangement, every Christian apparently requires an invisible altar that functions as a spiritual authorization system.

And this supernatural contraption must be powered by a combination of prayer, Bible study, reverence for God, devotion to Jesus, and personal consecration.

One might be forgiven for imagining that the Christian life has become a supernatural engineering project.

Your prayer life supplies the electricity. Your Bible study maintains the voltage. Your consecration keeps the spiritual generator running. And your altar processes the resulting energy into heavenly authorization.

Apparently, the God who created the universe by the Word of His power now requires His children to operate invisible religious power stations before they can enjoy the privileges secured for them by Jesus Christ.

The only problem with this magnificent spiritual infrastructure is that:

NOTHING REMOTELY RESEMBLING IT IS TAUGHT ANYWHERE IN SCRIPTURE.

This is the fundamental problem with the kind of religious teaching exemplified by Joshua Selman’s statement. 

Biblical terms are appropriated, emptied of their actual meaning, and repackaged into elaborate mystical constructions.

Priesthood becomes a power-generating department. Kingship becomes a supernatural status requiring activation. A crown becomes an invisible spiritual instrument. An altar becomes a heavenly authorization center. Prayer becomes the fuel. Consecration becomes the maintenance schedule. Bible study becomes part of the electrical wiring.

And somewhere in this imaginary supernatural power station, the preacher appoints himself the chief engineer responsible for explaining how the machinery operates.

The audience hears familiar Christian words and assumes it is hearing biblical truth. But recognizable vocabulary does not guarantee sound doctrine. 

The question is not whether a preacher uses words that appear in Scripture. The question is whether he uses those words in the manner Scripture actually teaches.

It is entirely possible to construct an elaborate religious system using biblical terminology while teaching doctrines that are nowhere to be found in the Bible.

This is why believers are commanded to test what they hear.

The Bereans were commended for examining the Scriptures daily to determine whether the things being taught to them were true.

Acts 17:11

“Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.”

Even the preaching of the Apostle Paul was subjected to scriptural examination. How much more should the teachings of contemporary men claiming apostolic authority be subjected to the same test?

Christianity does not require believers to surrender their minds whenever a preacher announces that he has discovered a spiritual mystery. Nor does invoking the Holy Spirit exempt a religious claim from biblical scrutiny.

If anything, the greater the claim to supernatural authority, the greater the necessity for rigorous examination.

And when that examination is undertaken, Joshua Selman’s mystical arrangement of priesthood, kingship, crowns, altars, and authorization systems collapses under the weight of Scripture.

THE ALTARS OF SCRIPTURE ARE NOT MYSTICAL POWER STATIONS

The Bible certainly speaks about altars. Throughout the Old Testament, altars were associated with sacrifice, worship, and covenantal dealings with God. Under the Mosaic Covenant, the sacrificial system occupied a central place in Israel’s religious life.

But those sacrifices were never intended to function as a permanent system for generating supernatural power. They pointed forward to the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

This is precisely what the Epistle to the Hebrews explains.

Hebrews 10:11–12

“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”

Notice the contrast.

The Old Testament priests stood continually because their sacrificial work was never complete. The sacrifices had to be repeated.

But Jesus Christ offered Himself once for all. And after offering that one perfect sacrifice, HE SAT DOWN.

Why?

Because His sacrificial work was finished.

Hebrews 10:14

“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

One sacrifice. One perfect offering. One eternal High Priest. One accomplished redemption.

The ongoing sanctification of believers flows from the saving work Christ has already accomplished. It does not require believers to establish an additional system of mystical sacrifices to supplement His work.

So, where exactly does the Bible instruct Christians to construct invisible altars that must be continually powered through religious activities?

Where did Jesus teach it? Where did Peter teach it? Where did Paul teach it? Where did John teach it?

NOWHERE.

And before the defenders of this mystical theology rush to quote Hebrews 13:10, which declares, “We have an altar,” let us examine what that passage actually means.

Hebrews 13:10-13

“We have an altar from which those who serve at the tabernacle have no right to eat. Although the high priest brings the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate, to sanctify the people by His own blood. Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore.”

In Hebrews 13:10–13, the writer contrasts the believer’s identification with Christ and His sacrificial provision with the Old Covenant sacrificial system. The passage directs believers toward Jesus Christ, who suffered outside the gate, and calls them to identify with Him. It does not introduce a personalized spiritual altar requiring regular activation through prayer, Bible study, or consecration.

Indeed, Hebrews 13:15 explains the nature of the spiritual sacrifices believers are called to offer:

Hebrews 13:15

“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” 

Likewise, Romans 12:1 calls believers to present their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God.

Romans 12:1

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

These are expressions of worship, gratitude, and obedience in response to God’s mercy. They are not mystical transactions through which Christians manufacture supernatural authority.

PRAYER IS NOT AN ELECTRICAL GENERATOR

Lest anyone deliberately misconstrue my argument, let me make something abundantly clear.

I am not arguing against prayer. I am not diminishing the importance of studying Scripture. Neither am I suggesting that holiness, obedience, reverence for God, or personal consecration is unimportant. All these things are commanded in the Word of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

“Pray without ceasing.”

2 Timothy 3:16–17

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

1 Peter 1:15–16

“But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

These passages are unmistakably clear. Believers are commanded to pray, study Scripture, pursue holiness, and walk in obedience to God.

But here is the distinction that modern manufacturers of mystical Christianity routinely obscure.

THE FACT THAT SCRIPTURE COMMANDS AN ACTIVITY DOES NOT GIVE ANY PREACHER PERMISSION TO INVENT A SUPERNATURAL MECHANISM THAT IS SUPPOSEDLY POWERED BY THAT ACTIVITY.

Prayer is communion with God. It is not an electrical generator supplying supernatural voltage to an invisible altar.

Bible study is the means by which believers receive instruction, correction, and training in righteousness. It is not a technique for charging mystical crowns.

Consecration is the believer’s response to God’s sanctifying grace. It is not a method for manufacturing heavenly authorization.

And obedience is the fruit of genuine faith, not a currency with which Christians purchase additional portions of Christ’s redemptive accomplishments.

God has given His people genuine means of grace for spiritual growth. That reality provides no justification for inventing mystical machinery that Scripture never describes.

The Christian life is not about keeping imaginary spiritual equipment operational. It is about trusting Jesus Christ, knowing His Word, and walking in obedience to Him through the power of the Holy Spirit.

WHEN BIBLICAL DISCIPLINES BECOME MYSTICAL TRANSACTIONS

Here is where the theological sleight of hand takes place.

A preacher begins with something unquestionably biblical.

Prayer. Scripture. Holiness. Consecration. Obedience.

Then he attaches these biblical duties to a supernatural mechanism that Scripture never reveals.

Suddenly, prayer is no longer simply prayer. It is now the fuel powering an invisible altar.

Bible study is no longer simply the means through which the Christian grows in the knowledge of God. It becomes a technical requirement for maintaining an unseen spiritual authorization system.

And consecration, rather than being the grateful response of someone redeemed by grace, becomes the maintenance fee for keeping his heavenly credentials operational.

This is how ordinary Christian discipleship is transformed into mystical superstition.

The preacher takes what God has actually commanded and attaches to it what God has never revealed. Then the entire construction is presented as profound revelation.

But adding biblical words to an invented religious mechanism does not make that mechanism biblical. Attaching Scripture to superstition does not sanctify superstition. And wrapping pagan-like mystical concepts in Christian vocabulary does not transform them into apostolic doctrine.

The Apostles taught that believers are a royal priesthood because Jesus Christ has redeemed them and brought them into His kingdom. They taught Christians to pray, study Scripture, pursue holiness, and walk in obedience.

But they did not teach that these activities generate spiritual electricity for an invisible altar that supplies supernatural authorization to an invisible crown.

The difference is not a minor disagreement over terminology. It is the difference between explaining what God has revealed and inventing what God has never said.

But there is an even more serious theological danger buried beneath this elaborate collection of spiritual contraptions.

If the privileges secured by Christ’s redeeming work must be activated, powered, or maintained through our religious activities, what exactly does that imply about the sufficiency of His finished work?

Has Christ completed our redemption? Or has He merely supplied the initial equipment, leaving us responsible for keeping the machinery running?

Does the Christian life begin and continue by the grace of God? Or does grace eventually give way to human performance dressed up as spiritual technology?

These are not trivial questions. They strike at the very heart of the Gospel.

And in Part III, we shall examine why the Christian’s salvation, sanctification, preservation, and glorification rest upon God’s grace rather than invented systems of supernatural authorization.

For now, the verdict is straightforward.

PRAYER IS NOT SPIRITUAL ELECTRICITY. 

CONSECRATION IS NOT ALTAR MAINTENANCE. 

THE BIBLE IS NOT A MANUAL FOR OPERATING IMAGINARY SUPERNATURAL MACHINERY. 

AND NO PREACHER HAS DIVINE AUTHORIZATION TO INVENT WHAT GOD HAS NEVER REVEALED.

To be continued in Part III.